Nothing like a vacation to whip you in to shape. I love to make sure all the things I have been procrastinating on are done before I go away so I don’t have anything hanging over my head. The list has included the regular…cleaning and organizing, laundry, finish and ship orders, and the big one – consignment items for Magpie. I am so pleased to cross Magpie off my list! This little charmer will be available in Somerville, Ma very soon:

And a big thank you goes to my dad for offering me his Boston Whaler for the week. How lucky am I? I can’t wait.

I think Shelter Kits will be my next move if given the chance. I want a barn house with an upstairs loft/living space and the downstairs a full studio space with no neighbors or preschools next door. I like my privacy and I love the idea of building it from the ground up myself while picking and choosing exactly what I want. Shelter Kits offers high-quality owner built barn kits. “The company was founded in 1970 with the mission of designing and producing quality, affordable homes, barns, garages and cabins that meet the specific needs of individual customers. The kits are designed for assembly by people with no prior building experience, and without power tools, lifts or cranes. Every part is clearly labeled for ease of assembly, and all of the components are designed so that two people can handle them.” 85% of the kits have been built by people with no prior building experience. Now that’s pretty phenomenal. I want!

I’m just waiting on the economy to stop flushing itself down the toilet.

I recently happened upon a number of gift cards that need redeeming in pretty significant amounts. I hoard GC’s like gold waiting for that item that I truly want and don’t want to pay for. My first was a charging station from Crate and Barrel. I love it but I never would have paid $44.95 for it. That’s pretty crazy for a box with 2 holes in it but it was free and I can now charge my cell phone, ipod and camera batteries without seeing wires. I hate wires! The second is a portable external hard drive. I’ve been meaning to purchase one for some time now but couldn’t seem to cough up the 90 bucks. Thank you AMEX points.

I still have a few dollars left at Crate and Barrel which will be going towards an ice cream maker but I’m going to go pick it up in person to avoid the shipping costs. I will soon be making chocolate banana ice cream!

I also have two GC’s to Urban Outfitters. I’m thinking of purchasing the HOLGA. I love the dreamy photographic effects they create.

The Karalee Design’s home page was due for an update. It now features New Designs, Custom Work in progress, a 25% off coupon for those who send in photos of their Karalee Design’s pieces in action for the Gallery, Upcoming Events and News. Much cleaner!

Speaking of new items…the flag buckles have arrived! Having created about a dozen flag buckle custom orders, I figured it was about time to offer them on the site. They make awesome gifts for men and women!

Just finished up an order for custom cuff links and flag buckles for a groom to give his groomsmen. The cuff link project was so great. I was given free reign as long as golf was the main theme. I immediately knew that I wanted to use little people as the focal point with a golf course photo for the background. I am so pleased with the results. There will definitely be more in the future. A few pics before I packaged them up and sent them off:

The Baking Area – 12 batches of cookies requires a laptop loaded up with movies for the day

Glazing – Lots and lots of green

Experimenting with Piping – I went through 3 different tips, 30 cookies and multiple icing consistencies to achieve the proper piping weight

Drying – Cookie icing does not dry in the humidity (wish I had known that, would have saved the heart attack when waking up to 200 sticky cookies)

Playing with the Imperfections – This guy took a beating